>>>
real eerie woods, coming up.
>>>
but we begin with that surprising admission from
carrie prejean
. she now says she did make a
sex tape
. we're going to talk to her about it in a moment, but first, her story. there was a time when
carrie prejean
was well on her way to being the next
miss usa
.
>>
carrie prejean
, you are our new
miss california
!
>>
and then the question and answer heard around the
pageant
.
>>
vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage. do you think every state should follow suit? why or why not?
>>
i believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. no offense to anybody out there.
>>
well, people did take offense.
>>
she lost not because she doesn't believe in
gay marriage
.
miss california
lost because she's a dumb .
>>
if you read that
miss california
's been murdered, you'll know it was me, wouldn't you?
>>
she's dumb and twisted. kind of like a
barbie doll
.
>>
she not only lost the crown, but her job as
miss california
.
>>
on
april 19th
on that stage i exercised my
freedom of speech
and i was punished for doing so.
>>
and then, dueling lawsuits. prejean suing
miss california
organizers for libel, slander and
religious discrimination
. the
pageant
countersuing for the money which helped her buy
breast implants
. it all had the makings of a showdown until the warring factions abruptly made peace a week ago, amid rumors the
pageant
had obtained a previously undisclosed
sex tape
.
carrie prejean
has now written a
still standing:
the
untold story
of my fight against gossip, hate and political attacks." carrie, good morning to you.
>>
good morning.
>>
before we get to the book, obviously, everybody wants to know about this
sex tape
that surfaced last week. there is one, correct?
>>
you could call it
whatever you want
to call it. if you want to call it a
sex tape
, that's fine, but --
>>
well, what do you call it?
>>
it was me by myself. there was no one else with me. i was not
having sex
. i sent it to my boyfriend at the time. i was a teenager. i cared about him. i trusted him. and you know, but the main point is that there has been a campaign against me to try and silence me for the past seven months for the answer that i gave at the
pageant
.
>>
so, you made this tape when you were 17 years old. is it basically an example of sexting, something you sent?
>>
um, yeah. i think now they call it sexting, but you know, it was me in the tape. you can call it
whatever you want
to call it. if you want to call it a
sex tape
, that's fine, but you know, i was by myself. i sent it to a boyfriend. it was for, you know, private use. but does that justify what i did? no. it was the biggest mistake of my life. and did i think it would come out now and haunt me? no. but i think a lot of
young people
can learn from this. and you know, nothing is private anymore. nothing is private. but the biggest thing, and the reason why i wrote this book is because
americans
believe that their beliefs are under attack, and this is proof. this is proof that their beliefs --
>>
so, you believe that somebody sent --
pageant
officials got their hands on this tape. how did they get it?
>>
i have no idea. all i know is there has been a campaign against me to try to silence me. they tried to embarrass me. they've tried to humiliate me. they've tried to attack me and i'm
still standing
. and they can't take that.
>>
so, carrie, why did you drop the lawsuit against campaign officials? you charge them with libel and slander and
religious discrimination
. if you feel that strongly about it, why drop the lawsuit? were you worried about this tape becoming public?
>>
well, everything that happened in mediation is completely confidential. i made a promise, you know, not to discuss anything that was discussed in there, and if i'm the only one that's holding up to that agreement, then i stand by that.
>>
but did the tape trigger it? because you were going to sue them and then suddenly, the suit is dropped.
>>
like i said, everything that's discussed in mediation, i'm not allowed to discuss it.
>>
this book doesn't take on the
sex scandal
, but it takes on what happened to you during the
pageant
. why did you feel the need to write it? what hadn't you said that you needed to say?
>>
well, i think it's important for people to understand, i think
americans
only heard bits and pieces of what really happened, and i think there is a
liberal bias
in the media, and it's unfortunate that, you know, conservative women are attacked. they are attacked for their beliefs, you know? and it's unacceptable and it shouldn't happen. and so many
americans
are frustrated. so many
americans
believe that their beliefs, you know, are under attack and they should be silent, and
free speech
doesn't exist. since when does
free speech
not exist? since when is someone able to go on
national tv
and call someone the most awful names you could ever call a woman and get away with it?
>>
and you have been called absolutely terrible names, but there are people who say they want to call you out when they feel you're being a hypocrite. you write "our bodies are temples of the lord. we should earn admiration for our hearts, not for being sexy."
>>
absolutely.
>>
now people see this tape and say she's a hypocrite. she writes a novel that says one thing --
>>
well, i'm a model. i was in a
beauty pageant
. if people call me ihypocrite, that's their prerogative. but i've learned from my mistakes. no one's perfect. i'm not perfect.
everybody makes mistakes
and i think it's about taking responsibility for their mistakes. and it just so happens that seven months -- it's been seven months since i gave that answer and they have done nothing but attack me and try to silence me and keep me from spreading that message that
free speech
still exists, and that's the reason why i wrote this book.
>>
you say in the book you've been palinized, referencing
sarah palin
. what do you mean by that?
>>
you know of the attacks
sarah palin
's under, don't you?
>>
but do you think as a conservative woman dprks.
>>
do you think
sarah palin
has been attacked?
>>
i think
sarah palin
's been criticized by many people, as have many politicians.
>>
right, and there is a
double standard
, there is an extreme
double standard
that conservative women are under attack for whatever it is. if
sean hannity
went out there and said some of the things that
keith olbermann
has said about me -- you know, if he said anything about
sonia sotomayor
or
michelle obama
, he would be off the air. why is there this
double standard
? that's the reason why i wrote this book.
>>
you also take on
beauty pageants
. you say that you owe a lot to them, so you're not taking away from that.
>>
right.
>>
but there's a part of the book where you recount what happened at the
miss usa pageant
before, in the days leading up to it, where
donald trump
, who owns the
pageant
, looked over the girls and held his own version of an elimination round. what did he do?
>>
well, i talk about it in my book. basically, he just went out there, and we were so excited to meet, you know, the donald at the time. and he just came out there and meeted us and shook our hands and we were so excited to meet him, but there were a lot of feelings that were hurt by some of the girls. they felt as though they weren't chosen by him, and --
>>
you say in the book he divided the girls into the ones he thought were hot and the ones who were not.
>>
right. well, he asked us, you know, how do you feel about so and so or who do you think's the most beautiful woman out here? and some of the girls were on the right side and some of the girls were on the left side, and those that were on the left were devastated. and so, i mean, there's a lot in this book that a lot of people don't know that goes on, you know,
behind the scenes
of pageants. it's not always what it seems to be.
>>
would you advise
young women
not to get involved in pageants?
>>
you know, i have learned so much and i have grown so much. there has been so many great experiences. you know, i wouldn't be here today had it not been for the
pageant
. in my book, i talk about a story how the
pageant
officials accidentally sent me to the wrong address and i ended up at a children's hospital, and it was the most amazing experience i have ever had, just being able to visit with children, and that was by accident. and so, i stayed at the hospital for about two hours and it was just, it was unforgettable. so, some of the most
amazing things
have happened to me since the
pageant
, but you know, people
need to know
what really happened and the truth.
>>
all right.
carrie prejean
, thank you so much.
>>
thank you.
>>
and the book is called, again, "
still standing
." i want to say, by the way,
donald trump
had no comment about what you said in your book. now, let's get
“ ”